Following a Fairy Tale
by claraowl
Summary: The third part of "The Truth about Onee-san" and "An Offer She Can't Refuse," in which the story comes out - leaving Ren and Kyoko to struggle with explaining their 'date' to Yashiro, Kanae, Lory, and Maria. Is there hope for a happy ending to their fairy tale? Part 3 of the "My Heart, Yours" series.
1. How Can Reality Be Determined?

**Welcome to the (very late) third installment in my now-trilogy-that-was-supposed-to-be-a-one-shot! It's been a long time since I started this fic… and I still don't own Skip Beat! **

**Please note that updates will be few and far between due to school. I've got a heavy course load this year! (How heavy? I started writing a Halloween one-shot in early October and it's not even halfway done.) This fic **_**should**_ **be the final part of this little mini-series. I hope that you enjoy it!**

Kyoko awoke to the buzzing of her alarm and groaned. She'd been having such a lovely dream… she'd spent the day with her prince, and he'd crowned her a princess. Hence, she did not take well to being awoken. However, as she is Kyoko and therefore work-obsessed, she crawled out of her futon, shut off her daruma-shaped alarm clock, and began preparing herself for the day. Her sleepy gaze fell upon her calendar; a slight shock jolted through her system, and then she was very much awake and beaming.

"Moko's plane gets in today!"

This realization caused her to bustle around at twice her usual speed, albeit with less care than usual. It was this very lack of connection to reality that brought her to terms with the fairy-tale occurrences of the previous day – or, at least, forced her to accept them as reality – when she went to grab her shoes before heading downstairs for breakfast. The shoe-back into which her finger hooked was not that of an ordinary shoe, nor did it have a companion. It was one of the faux-glass slippers from her fairy-tale. And if the shoe was real, then that would mean that… that…

That her impossible dream had been reality.

Her legs gave out beneath her; she was in equal measures happy (for obvious reasons), ashamed (for having taken advantage of her sempai in such a way), and terrified (for having even accepted his offer and thereby allowing him to take an even firmer hold on her heart). She tapped the lonely slipper with her still-fancy nails; the Royalty-treatment had included a manicure and a pedicure, and she'd seen no reason to remove the beautiful artwork. She fully planned on wearing it until she needed to take it off for work, or until it chipped beyond help. Natsu could probably pull off butterflies and her hands were not visible as Bo, so the latter was the more likely of the two options.

Where was the other slipper? Had been left in her bag? Perhaps she had set it aside somewhere when she was half-asleep. She _had_ been brought home at midnight, after all, and –

Her cheeks burned. Honestly, how could she have been so – so improper? She was a traditional Japanese woman! Yet she had kissed him – on the cheek, yes, but still! It was just like his thank-you kiss, but… how was she going to face him, and after he sacrificed so much to cheer her up? Even if he'd said he'd enjoyed it as well… and even if he said that she _deserved_ it. The memories of these words stilled her for a moment, and then she sent the rest of the Kyokos into a meeting to discuss the problem while she went about the business of her day. Moko was coming back after a month abroad! Her best friend would be home, and she would be there to pick her up – in a horribly ostentatious car the president had insisted upon providing, of course. But the car aside, she was ecstatic, and vowed to treat Moko to a welcome-home meal and ice-cream trip. Thus her day began, and she made a mental note to finish the glitter on the welcome-home-Moko sign.

"Good morning!" she sang, skipping down the stairs and bowing to her landlords.

Taisho nodded, glad to see her in good spirits again. Okami-san greeted the young actress, and then added, "How was your date yesterday?"

Her abrupt question caught Kyoko off-guard. "It… it wasn't a…" she hesitated, the various events of the day mixing with the comments of the people whom they had met and the forming conclusions of the Kyoko meeting. "It was wonderful," she admitted eventually, deciding to leave the question of what to call that day unanswered. Please let the reader note that this is a giant leap of progress, as only the morning prior Kyoko had violently denied the outing being anything close to a date.

"I'm glad to hear that. He treated you well, I take it?" At his wife's words, taisho stilled; did he need to get his carving knife?

"Of course! Tsu—Re—_he_," she decided finally, "wouldn't do anything to hurt me. He wouldn't let me pay for anything, though." She sighed, and taisho resumed cutting up vegetables, slightly appeased. Ren would be permitted to live, though he was still on probation. Thus, Kyoko began her breakfast, with some grunts and a light-hearted interrogation from her landlords. Afterwards, she went back upstairs to finish the poster, and then hurried off to start her day.

Ren's morning did not begin quite so smoothly. He had, for the first time in his professional life as Tsuruga Ren, not awoken on time. 'Awoken' is used in the loosest sense of the word, as he did not sleep; rather, he did not snap out of his Kyoko-induced gaze from the time he left Darumaya until he was very late indeed. This led to a rather hurried morning for him, as he needed to pick up his manager before his day could properly begin – and he needed to get dressed before that could happen. He skipped breakfast, knowing full well that Kyoko would scold him later for it, dressed, and rushed to pick up his manager.

Yashiro paced back and forth in front of his apartment building, debating about whether or not he should call Ren. On one hand, they needed to be on time to protect Ren's professional record; on the other, Ren might still be with Kyoko, and Yashiro would not risk interrupting his favorite potential couple. He was, however, getting close to doing so by the time Ren pulled up. The manager let out a sigh of both relief and disappointment - relief, as they could get to work, and disappointment, as Kyoko was not in the car with Ren. "Thank goodness you're here -"

It was then that he noticed the passenger door of Ren's car. He got in, a smirk curving his features and giggles fighting to get loose. Ren realized his mistake; in his post-date (he didn't care if she would deny it, it was still a date to him) elation, he'd forgotten to remove the pumpkin-carriage car decal. He groaned and pulled onto the road without even greeting his manager.

After a few minutes without questions, he relented. "Good morning. I apologize for being late. I did not sleep well last night."

Yashiro's brain whirred madly after hearing this, of course. "Oh? And did that have anything to do with the Cinderella decal on the side of your car?"

"Not directly." He turned into the parking lot of their first destination of the day.

"Where's Kyoko-chan?"

Ren parked and blinked at him. "I assume that she's at LME by now."

Yashiro sighed heavily, but let that particular angle of attack die. Instead, he asked, "How _was_ your date?"

"I believe that she enjoyed herself," Ren admitted, but said nothing more, even when Yashiro squealed about the non-denial of it being a date; they were, after all, running rather late. The director was surprised and rather displeased… but that's not vital to this story, so it shall now switch over to Kyoko, who was walking through the airport with glittery poster in hand. She was early, but did not mind; it was a much better alternative than making her precious Moko-san wait! When Moko got off of the plane, Kyoko fantasized, she would come rushing into her best friend's arms for a giant hug, and then….

"Flight E-7!" crackled over the loudspeaker, jolting Kyoko out of her reverie. That was Moko's flight! She held the sign high.

Kanae stretched and rolled her neck; that had not been a pleasant flight. Her seat partner had been one of her more lascivious co-stars, making for several uncomfortable hours and one actor with demolished pride. Thus it was with no little relief that she stepped off of the plane, dreaming of a long soak in her own bathtub. She walked out into the reception area and was immediately assaulted by a view of something a violent, glittery green.

"Moko! Welcome home!" Kyoko called, waving her poster proudly. She would have hugged her best friend immediately, but said girl was still on the other side of a fence.

"Mo…." the older of the two girls sighed as she stepped around the barrier. "I'm back."

"Moko!" It was then that she flew to her friend; whispers sprung up around them as they embraced (Kanae hugged back for a moment; it _had_ been a month, after all), onlookers wondering about the nature of their relationship. "I missed you so much!"

"Yeah, yeah." She wriggled free. "C'mon, I still need to get my luggage."

Kyoko let out a small cheer and linked her arm through Kanae's. "Then let's go! The president sent along a car, too, so we don't have to worry about getting a taxi."

Kanae nodded, a smile working its way onto her features against her will. Knowing the president, the car was likely to be even more glittery than Kyoko's sign. She couldn't quite bring herself to care, however, as she'd missed her friend, even if she would never willingly admit it. The gathering of her luggage was accompanied by chatter about Kanae's trip (Kyoko had resolved to wait until later to talk about her horrible month and one glorious day) and a brief explosion of grudge demons when Kanae's persistent co-star had re-appeared. The poor man beat a hasty retreat, leaving Kanae to reward Kyoko with a brief one-armed hug of thanks. Kyoko then became rather unbearable, which cleared the pathway for them to their Lory-provided, LoveME pink limo. The inside was peacock-themed. Kanae let out a sigh as she settled in next to her best friend. Sebastian shut the door behind them, straightened his peacock hat (which did not look remotely ridiculous, as he is Sebastian and therefore looks good in everything), and got into the driver's seat.

"Oh, yeah - I have your souvenir," Kanae muttered, rummaging in one of her bags and dodging Kyoko's hug simultaneously. "Here."

"Thank you, Moko!" Kyoko squealed. "My best friend got me a present… a souvenir! That's never happened before! Oh, _thank you!_"

"At least open it first." Kanae rolled her eyes. "How else will you know if you like it?"

"It's from Moko! Of course I'll like it! It -" she opened it and squealed - "oh, I _love_ it!" It was a paper fan, handpainted with images of sylvan creatures dancing over flowerbuds. After placing it carefully in her lap, she flung her arms around her protesting friend. "Thank you so much!"

Kanae suffered the hug for a few moments before shimmying away. The two girls spent the rest of the ride catching up with the acting portions of each other's lives. It was not until after they had dropped Kanae's suitcases off at her home and entered the LoveME room at LME that the topic of Kyoko's month of sadness appeared. Kanae dragged it from a highly reluctant Kyoko's mouth before pausing. Natsuko slithered into the room unnoticed, her rock lobster costume clicking softly.

"That… is one awful month."

"Yes! I missed you so much!" Kyoko hugged her friend around the waist. "But it wasn't all that bad - I mean, yesterday was wonderful and today you're back! So everything's okay!"

"What made yesterday wonderful?" What could so easily make up for that month?

"Well, um," Kyoko paused, her cheeks coloring slightly, "I knew that you'd be back today, and… um…"

"And?"

"Ah, Natsuko!" Kyoko yelped, seizing her only opportunity for a topic change - she wasn't quite ready to tell her best friend about her date with Tsu-with Ren. Kanae screeched and scuttled backwards; Kyoko knelt down to take the note from her reptilian friend. Natsuko nodded and slithered out of the room. "Moko, the president wants to see you now, alone."

"Fine," Kanae sighed, pushing her bangs back from her face, exasperated. "But this conversation is not over! Got it?"

"Yes," Kyoko murmured, plopping onto one of the heart-shaped couches and tucking her feet beneath her. Kanae looked over her friend once, nodded, and hurried away after the snake to report to Lory.

By this time, Ren and Yashiro had finished the first job of the day and arrived at LME, Yashiro for his paperwork time and Ren for his (unofficial) Kyoko time. The morning had been rather horrible for Ren, who was running on no sleep and no breakfast; he'd not even had time for coffee before his first scene. He'd not let his acting suffer, of course - he was too professional for that - but his temper had been a bit shorter than usual. This was an unfortunate truth, as Yashiro was elated about his favorite ship starting to make its way out of the port and therefore prone to squealing… and teasing.

"So you took Kyoko-chan out on a date?" he inquired - perhaps for the third time, perhaps for the twenty-seventh - as Ren parked the car.

"I've already answered that," Ren bit back, unclenching his fingers from the steering wheel. "My answer has not and shall not change."

Yashiro grinned. "Are you going to go see Kyoko-chan now, then?"

"If she is in the building, I might encounter her. She forgot something last night." His tone was clipped, as were his movements; he unbuckled his seatbelt, retrieved a bag from the back seat, and hurried out of the car.

"Not just _something_ - a special something!" Yashiro chuckled (let it be taken as a victory that he did not giggle, as that would be disgraceful and unbefitting of Ren's image).

"I beg you, be silent." Ren gave a small groan. Yashiro had been like this all morning. If he wasn't such a skilled manager….

Yashiro sniggered, but obeyed. The remainder of their walk into the building occurred in silence punctuated only by various small forms of laughter from the elder of the two men. The two did not part ways upon entering the building, but instead traversed the same path down to the LoveME room. Yashiro, after all, had curiosity to satisfy.

Kyoko was humming to herself and absentmindedly tracing the patterns on her nails when Ren's knock sounded on the door. She stood quickly and bowed as the two men entered the room. "Good morning, Yashiro-san, Tsu-" (Here she paused for a fraction of a second.) "Ren!"

"Good morning, Kyoko," Ren replied as Yashiro dissolved into silent squeals. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, yes!" She smiled. "I slept better than I have in a month, and had lovely dreams. What about you?"

"I didn't sleep too well, actually, though I rested for a while." To his surprise, she bowed deeply.

"I'm so sorry, Tsu-Ren!"

"Huh?"

Yashiro regained his composure, if only just. "I've read that sometimes when you can't sleep, you're awake in someone else's dream. Right, Kyoko-chan?"

She nodded, looking to one side, and mumbled, "My brain was replaying yesterday. I apologize for keeping you up at night."

While Yashiro doubled over with silent laughter at the double entende of her words, Ren waved her apologies away. "I'm sure that if that were true, no celebrity would sleep well. I was going over the day, as well."

"Speaking of which," Yashiro interjected before Kyoko could respond, "how was your date with Ren yesterday, Kyoko-chan?"

Ren flinched; yes, he'd thought of it as such, but it was too much to expect Kyoko to think the same. He opened his mouth to contradict his manager for her sake, but was stilled by a feather-light touch on his wrist.

"It… it was lovely," Kyoko murmured, glancing up at the two of them through her lashes, "a perfect fairy tale."

Both Ren and Yashiro froze for a moment, processing what had just been said. Kyoko had not denied that it was a date. She had actually _prevented_ Ren from correcting Yashiro. And she - the fairy-obsessed girl - had deemed it a fairy tale.

Yashiro hovered for a moment longer before turning on his heel and sprinting out of the room. The president needed to know this information.

Ren blinked. So he _hadn't_ imagined her words last night, her admission then of their fairytale, their chance of a happy ending. Her demons huddled behind Mio, wearing protective suits and shuddering. "I'm glad to hear that, princess."

She ducked her head. "Thank you again."

"The pleasure was mine, I assure you." He paused, then reached into his bag. "Speaking of fairytales…."

"Yes?" She blinked up at him.

"I am searching for a girl - nay, a woman - with whom I parted ways at midnight last night; all she left behind was a lone glass slipper." He withdrew it from his bag and continued, "Would you, perchance, be willing to try it on, to see if you are indeed she of whom the faeries speak?"

Her mind spun for several moments before she could form words. "I would."

"Then please, princess, take a seat."

She sat down upon the LoveME couch, feeling ridiculously nervous; she knew it was hers, and yet… what if for some reason it didn't fit? What if this wasn't her fairytale, even though she'd claimed it as such? It's not like that hadn't happened to her before… so why should she expect a happy ending this time around? Her hands clasped together in front of her. Why was he just standing there? Did he realize that she could never be worthy?

"Princess… your shoe, please," he, requested, smiling. At her blank look, he added, "Please remove your right shoe."

Oh.

She laughed and bent over to remove it. "Sorry."

"Not at all." He knelt down in front of her and was all solemnity when he took her ankle into his hand. The shoe slipped on without any problems - it had been made for her, after all.

Her breath caught as he stood up and offered her his hand. She took it; he helped her stand and had to restrain himself from pulling her to him. "It fits, princess."

She made no response as he kissed her hand, instead staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at him.

"Princess Kyoko…?" Had he crossed one of her invisible lines? "Is something wrong?"

His words snapped her from her daze. "I… no, I'm fine! I-I just can't quite believe that this amazing fairy tale… is happening to me." This last part came out as a whisper with a slight laugh; the glance she gave him after she'd finished speaking was shy and quickly finished when she ducked her head.

He smiled. "I'm glad that it is… and hope that it will be allowed to continue," he paused for a moment before adding, "now… and forever."

His intentions attempted to fly over her head, but her angels were having none of this. They snatched the intentions out of the air and shoved them into the Kyoko meeting room, right in front of the boss Kyoko's eyes, demanding, "Mama. _Look. At. It_!" Kyoko, forced to realize what exactly was occurring and what he meant, flushed a rather pleasant shade of chartreuse.

Fortunately or unfortunately (as the case may be), Kanae re-entered the room at that moment. "What the-?"

"Oh, fluffernutters," Kyoko squeaked.

**Aaaaaand chapter break! :D Last line is dedicated to one of my sempais, who says that frequently. Doesn't that so fit Kyoko?**

**This was supposed to be a one-shot. No, I'm not just talking about this particular story… "The Truth about Onee-san" was supposed to be a one-shot. Now it's a **_**trilogy**_**. Also, any suggested names for what I should collectively call it? I still have it saved as "Kyoko Tells Maria about Past (chapter #)" in my documents, but that no longer really applies. If you have a suggestion for me, please feel free to leave it in your review (hint, hint)! :D**


	2. How Can They Discover the Events?

**Hey, y'all! Exams are over! *cheers* Now I can work on this! Once again, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A ONE-SHOT. Geez, brain, **_**why?**_

**By the way, I checked the manga - Jelly really does call Ren "Ren-chan." Also, I had a lot of fun with Lory in this chapter. :)**

**I still don't own Skip Beat! This chapter starts out a little bit before the last one ended. :)**

Yashiro hurried through the halls of LME, his metaphorical seams nearly bursting from the strain of containing his excitement. This was _happening_! Whatever elaborate scheme Ren had used yesterday had obviously worked - why, Kyoko-chan had basically declared her love for him! No, she'd not said the words (not in front of Yashiro, at least), but with Kyoko-chan, to have her admit that it was a date was tantamount to an engagement! The president needed this information immediately, if he didn't already have it. This was a likely possibility, as Lory's information network was unrivalled in Japan (in fact, the political leaders of the day frequently asked Lory for inside information, but were consistently rebuffed).

The elevator was opening when Yashiro rounded the corner, which was fortunate; if it hadn't been, he'd have run up the stairs instead, which would have robbed him of his breath and made his report much more difficult to understand. He slipped inside the mechanical box of quick vertical motion, startling its inhabitants. Unfortunately for Yashiro, one of the two inhabitants happened to be a lobster clutching what appeared to be a miniature guitar in one claw. Due to Yashiro's sudden movements upon entering the mechanical box of quick vertical motion, the lobster had scuttled backwards and shifted its claws; this led to a rather awful set of notes emitting from the miniature, fully functional guitar.

"Sorry about him," winced the other inhabitant of the elevator. The doors slid shut as she bent down to adjust the lobster's leash and adjusting his aqua-pack. "It's his first day on active duty, so he's a bit skittish."

"No, not at all. I'm a bit out of sorts myself - I just received some extremely good news to report to the president." He bowed slightly. "I apologize for frightening your charge. My own can be a bit clammed up sometimes."

"Oh, are you in charge of his shellfish?" inquired Lory's professional lobster wrangler.

"Unfortunately not; I manage one of his talents."

She laughed. "And does this talent have anything to do with your trip to report to the resident president love-mon?"

He smirked and adjusted his glasses. "Perhaps." The elevator dinged and the doors slid open. "Is this your floor?"

"Yup. Nice talkin' to you. Good luck with the prez!" She clicked her fingers twice. "C'mon, Lawrence, we've got band practice."

Yashiro chuckled as the doors closed behind the odd pair, then clapped his hands together. Ren and Kyoko were calling each other by their _given names _- and Kyoko had admitted to their outing being a date! The president was going to love this. The elevator dinged again, admitting Yashiro to the president's floor. He rushed over to the door, punched in the code reserved specifically for occasions such as this (7-3-6-5-9-6-5-6), and slipped into Lory's office. What he saw stilled his excited explanations on his lips.

Lory sat at his large, mossy boulder-desk with his claws linked together under his chin. The office that day appeared to be an odd mix between a seventies' American dance club and the bottom of the ocean. Speakers stood off to one side, disguised by something that looked suspiciously like a cross between an octopus, a fern, and a gorilla, but they were temporarily silent. A small group of lobsters dozed in a nearby tank, their wranglers resting on coral-shaped chairs. Lawrence was not among them, nor was his wrangler. Sebastian, who is Sebastian and therefore not only looks fabulous in his rock lobster costume but also detects all movement, showed Yashiro to a seashell-shaped saddle chair. None of these admittedly odd occurrences had silenced Yashiro; rather, he had been shushed by the expression on Lory's face.

"I would like you to confirm something I heard from your director. Did the aforementioned co-star made inappropriate advances?"

"To an extent, yes, sir," Kanae affirmed, her voice brisk. She sat on the lone ordinary chair in the room (though it did, of course, have carvings of fish on the back).

"To what extent?" Yashiro wondered how a man in a rock lobster costume - something fashioned after a silly foreign song - could look menacing. Let it never be said that the president did not take care of his talents.

"It was mostly verbal - comments on my physique and the like - though he did try to feel me up at one point. I slapped him after he attempted to cup me."

Lory nodded and smiled slightly. "That's my girl."

Kanae looked at him, surprised. "I thought physical violence makes for bad press."

"Violence, yes. Self-defence, no. I'm very glad that you stood up for yourself." He clicked one of his claws. Sebastian appeared at his side. "Make a note that the young man in question is not to be allowed within LME without a security guard. Also, schedule an appointment for me with the head of his company. I will not stand for anything of this sort. Love is not something that should be forced, nor is it something so vulgar. _I will not stand for the endangerment of my talents._"

Sebastian nodded and melted into the shadows to do as he was bid.

Kanae blinked. "Thank you, sir. I'm fairly certain that it won't happen again, though."

"It had better not… but why do you say that?" He shifted; a tone of curiosity entered his voice.

"Kyoko set her demons on him when he attempted to make another move on me at the airport. He ran away screaming about witchcraft." She rolled her eyes. "If I'd known he was superstitious, I could've just shoved that cursed luck charm she gave me in his face."

Lory nodded, displaying his approval. "You had best keep that on you, just in case."

"Yes, sir."

He cleared his throat and adjusted his claws. "Other than the problem with your co-star - which I assure you shall be taken care of immediately - did your filming abroad go well?"

"Quite well. We finished everything on schedule."

He nodded. "Unless you require anything else, you are dismissed. Welcome home, by the way."

"No, sir. Thank you." She bowed and left, now with a bit more respect for her boss.

"You have a report for me, Yukihito-kun?" Lory inquired once the seaweed door shut behind Kanae and the speakers (and lobsters) had resumed playing "Rock Lobster."

Yashiro, temporarily distracted by the events he'd witnessed, snapped back to the present. "Yes, sir! Kyoko-chan has just confirmed that she and Ren went on a date yesterday!"

Lory did not move for a moment. "Are you quite sure that she used the word 'date'?"

"They both did - she actually prevented Ren from correcting me when I asked her about it!"

The president and grand rock lobster blinked. "She _prevented_ him from correcting you?"

"Yes! They're using given names now, too, and she said it was a fairy tale for her!"

"And then…?" he prompted, pinching his leg with his lobster claws.

"Then I ran up here to tell you. Also, he had a Cinderella-esque sticker on the passenger door of his car this morning and brought her something that looked suspiciously like a glass slipper when we went to the LoveME room."

Puzzle pieces began connecting in Lory's head. "He asked me yesterday for a good, discreet photography studio. Did he…?" He flipped open his phone and sent a quick message. Moments later, he received a reply. After sending his thanks, he looked up at Yashiro with a grin. "He asked Ten for a special set of makeover two days ago, but she was busy, so she sent him to an apprentice. He'd wanted to know if she could make two people a _princess_ and a _prince_."

Yashiro's jaw dropped, but further discussion was interrupted by Sebastian, who appeared with a phone. "The president of the young man's company would like to schedule a meeting with you and discuss what is to be done about his charge."

Lory nodded and took the phone, sending Yashiro off to watch the happenings on the security camera. After all, the safety of his charges was more important than meddling in their romantic affairs, even if the latter was more enjoyable than the former. Sebastian showed Yashiro into a large fish head, where he watched the proper camera through the trout's left eye and listened to the speaker in its right viewing orifice. The all-knowing and ever-awesome Sebastian then went to contact the discreet photographer, leaving Yashiro to observe the drama alone.

Kyoko was sporting a brilliant chartreuse coloration and Ren was watching her with a mixed expression, causing Yashiro to wonder what on earth he had missed. He was left to wonder, as at that moment Kanae re-entered the room.

"What the-?" She took in the scene before her. What could have _possibly_ happened in the past twenty-two minutes to account for this?

"Oh, fluffernutters," Kyoko squeaked.

Kanae shut the door behind her and turned to her best friend. "Does this sense of impending chaos have anything to do with what you were avoiding telling me before?"

"Uh- um - um…." Please let the reader take a moment to appreciate the full extent of Kyoko's panic, and the many reasons for it: One, her heart was in a fragile balance between accepting the fact that she was in love with Ren and actually _wanting_ to do something about that fact. Two, her angels had forced her to realize that if she were to act on her feelings, they would most likely be completely reciprocated - something foreign to her in all cases except that of sisterly love. Three, Ren had heard that she was trying to hide yesterday from Moko, as if she were ashamed or ungrateful (both blatant mistruths; she just wasn't sure how to word it). Four, Moko had seen her blush in Ren's presence and had no doubt by now seen the glass slipper. Five, the impending explanation might decide whether or not she still had a best friend and whether or not Ren would retract his words (in props to Kyoko, the former seemed more realistic to her than the latter, for once).

"I was returning something she had left behind when I gave her a ride home yesterday," Ren smiled, stepping back from Kyoko slightly. "Welcome back, by the way; how was your trip?"

Kanae did not answer, but instead continued staring at Kyoko, silently demanding an explanation.

"Um… Ren, would you mind giving us a few minutes? Please?"

He took heart from the fact that she had still used his given name. "Not at all. I should go find Yashiro anyway, so please excuse me." The pair bowed to each other and he left the room.

Kanae raised one eyebrow. "Well?"

"I'm sorrrrrrryyyyyyy…." Kyoko slumped to the floor in her usual dogeza, explanation starting to spill out of her mouth. "I-was-just-really-happy-and-wasn't-sure-how-to-explain-it-'cause-I'm-still-processing-it-and-I-_did_-want-to-tell-you-I-just-didn't-know-how-please-don't-hate-me-Moooookooooooooooo…."

The elder girl pushed the heel of her hand against her forehead. "Just tell me slowly... what happened, exactly?"

"I-I can't tell you here. It's not… not secure." She glanced at one of Lory's cameras; back in the fish head, Yashiro squirmed.

"Fine." _Deep breaths, Kanae. _"Do you have work today?"

A nod. "Late this afternoon, at TBM."

"Do you work early tomorrow?"

"No. 'Box R' doesn't start until two."

"Good. Then I'm coming to get you after work tonight so you can sleep over and explain what the hell is going on." After dodging Kyoko's overly-excited hug, she continued, "Why are your shoes mismatched, anyway?"

Kyoko lowered her gaze to her pseudo-glass slipper, cheeks a tad flushed. "I'll… um… explain later. It has to do with… yesterday."

Her best friend gave her a look of utter disbelief. "Mo, he's sappier than I thought." The in-trout Yashiro snickered at this comment.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Let's go grab some lunch. I'm dying for some yakisoba."

Kyoko paused for a moment, wondering if she ought to let Ren know why she'd not mentioned the day yet to Kanae, before deciding that he wouldn't fret over it. "Okay!"

She made it all of two feet forward before stumbling (the authoress would like the reader to realize that her glass slipper had a heel while her ordinary shoe did not, thus leaving poor Kyoko horribly unbalanced) against Kanae. She attempted to bow an apology, but instead overbalanced, sending the pair crashing to the floor. This mishap resulted in further apologies, one highly irritated Kanae, and a shoe change. The pair then stood and made their way (sans accidents) to the cafeteria.

Meanwhile, Ren was wandering semi-aimlessly around LME, as he both wanted (in order to get on with the day) and did not want (due to the questioning, teasing, and squealing that was sure to come) to find his manager. Thus, he happened to encounter a certain witch by the name of Jelly Woods.

"Ren-chan!"

"Ah, hello, Miss Woods." He bowed. "Thank you for your assistance two days ago. It helped the proceedings immensely."

"Oh, good! So Kyoko-chan enjoyed them! I really wanted to turn you two royal myself, but I was on a movie set all day yesterday." A sigh escaped her lips. "Next time I'll be sure to! Did the girls at Telling treat you two well?"

Ren stared at her. "Miss Woods… I never mentioned Kyoko during our phone call…."

"Well, it _was_ for her, wasn't it?" She raised an eyebrow.

"I…." He did not want to deny it, as Kyoko might somehow hear of this (and he himself did not want to deny any part of the previous day's reality of daydreams), but by the same token did not want Lory to discover it, as chaos would inevitably erupt. He sighed; the president would find out anyway. "Yes. And yes, the people of Telling treated us very well. Kyoko loved the R-treatment to the point of speechlessness."

Jelly nodded her approval. "Good! I'm glad that you two are finally starting to clear up your blatant sexual tension."

"I beg your pardon?"

She rolled her eyes at him, much in the way his mother might have.

_I… I should call Mom tonight. If I've got enough courage to push a little further with Kyoko, surely I can handle a simple phone call, right?_

"You two are so obvious, Ren-chan. I'm glad you're making progress."

_...Right?_ "Me, too."

"At this rate, you should be together by her next birthday! She'll be legal then." She winked at him before remembering something. "By the way…"

"Yes?" _Maybe… maybe after I talk to Kyoko tonight, I can call Mom. If my princess soothes my nerves first, then maybe… maybe I can make amends. I need to fix me before I can ask her to accept me… even if she's the reason _why _I can start to fix me._

"That tiara you asked my opinion on in the email… did you give it to her?"

"Yes, I did." _Perhaps I can trust her with this much, as thanks._ "I gave it to her… and crowned her the princess of _Cor Meum._"

"Is that… Latin?" Jelly inquired, tilting her head just as Kyoko did on occasion.

Ren smiled at this similarity. "Yeah. _Cor Meum_."

"How does it translate?"

He continued smiling, but did not answer; Yashiro saved him from this by coming to fetch him for their next job. He bowed and thanked Jelly again before departing, Yashiro by his side. The elder of the two men smirked and began making as many prince-related comments as he could without bringing forth the demon lord.

Jelly trotted upstairs to see Lory. "Hello, darling."

"Greetings, Ten!" Lory smiled, the song blaring from the speakers. "I have good news."

"About Ren-chan and Kyoko-chan?" she giggled, coming to sit on his rock-desk.

"No, but that, too." He chucked under her chin with a claw. "I've just successfully extracted a formal apology from a rival corporation for the way one of their talents treated Kotonami-kun. The matter is resolved and fortunately, she doesn't seem upset by it."

"That is good news," she agreed. "I hear such wonderful things about her from Kyoko-chan."

"Speaking of Mogami-kun, you said that you'd heard the good news?"

She laughed. "Heard it? Darling, I helped it happen!"

"Oh? Do tell." He leaned forward, claws clicking together behind her back.

"I already told you, didn't I? Ren-chan called me two nights ago, asking if I could turn two people royal. I couldn't - you know I was on-set for the movie that day" (he nodded) "-so I sent him to Telling."

Lory chuckled. "I bet that brat got a kick out of making it a pun."

"Really? Ren-chan doesn't seem like a very punny guy to me." She stuck out her tongue.

"You never cease to amuse me, my dear Ten."

"Glad to hear it, darling. That means you'll never get sick of me."

He leaned back in his chair, a smile causing his moustache to flick. "You never know. I might."

She pouted. "You're so mean, darling. I guess I won't tell you what new information I got out of Ren-chan about what he did for Kyoko-chan."

Lory straightened. "You got Ren to tell you something?" Did that mean that he was coming to terms with what could or could not be done by the person that boy perceived himself to be?

She nodded, but kept her mouth firmly shut. Natsuko slithered onto the desk beside her and adopted an equivalent facial expression.

"Ten, what did he tell you?"

She shook her head. Natsuko mirrored her action, causing her costume's claws to shake and play a few notes on the attached guitar.

"I'm sorry, Ten. I was kidding. Please tell me?"

"Darling, you are a grown man. A grown man wearing an adorably funky rock lobster costume, but a grown man nonetheless. You should not be able to pull off a pouty face that well." She sighed and looked away from him; Natsuko settled onto her lap in sympathy (or to absorb her warmth; the world may never know). After a moment, she glanced back. "Were you really kidding?"

"I swear on my costumes, Ten."

She smiled. "He showed me a picture of the tiara he got for her and told me that he'd - and I quote - 'crowned her the princess of _Cor Meum_.'"

"Of… _Cor Meum_? Are you sure?"

"Yes; why?"

Tears sprung to his eyes. "My dear Ten, don't you realize what this means?"

"I don't speak Latin, darling."

"Why, this is a confession! In the wrong language, of course, but if she were to do even the tiniest bit of research-!"

Natsuko rose from Jelly's lap and swayed along with Lory's flailing hands. The president of LME tended to speak with his hands when overly excited.

"Then what?" Ten attempted to ask, but went unheard by the spazzing Lory.

"And to think, the boy did his research on a romance language _just so he could say that_ - to think that boy was brave enough to get his head on straight and confess-!"

"LORY!"

He ceased speaking and stared at Ten, who was understandably frustrated. "Yes?"

"Would you be so kind as to explain what _Cor Meum_ even means before you continue your rant?" she huffed, arms crossed. Natsuko nodded.

"My darling, dearest darling Ten," Lory beamed, drawing both her and Natsuko into a hug, "_Cor Meum_ is Latin for _my heart_."

Ten rested her head against Lory's chest. "So he crowned her the princess of his heart?"

Lory nodded. "Not queen, though. Not yet."

Natsuko hissed her displeasure.

Ten smiled up at him. "Well, yeah. They need to get married and have a baby first. Then she'll be queen and their little girl will be his princess."

"Have I ever told you that I love the way your mind works, Ten?"

She giggled as he pulled back from their embrace. "Only every time we work together, darling."

"And it shall never become any less true," he declared with a smile.

**Soooo… yeah! Unexpected Lory/Ten fluff! I didn't know that I shipped this. My brain surprised me, as the two just started flirting. Hm. :/ Maybe it's because most of this was typed while listening to He is We's "Happily Ever After"?**

**Find the RWBY reference - it's near the beginning - for a little teaser for the very end. ;) Or figure out why the special code is that number sequence… doing both will result in something extra-special!**

**Sorry that there wasn't too much action in this chapter! I needed a bit more setup than I had. -_- Next chapter may include a cameo from Bridge Rock, so stay tuned… and drop me a review on your way out! :)**

**Once again, **_**this entire thing was supposed to be a one-shot. **_**I blame Lory.**

**Happy Christmas, by the way! :D Consider this (if you wish) a late present to my beloved (and oddly loyal) readers. ^^**


	3. How Can They Tell Her?

**Thank you a million spastic times to my two sempais, who both have helped me greatly with this fic. For the sake of the story, kindly ignore everything happening with Saena. I do not own Skip Beat, as it would be much fluffier if I did. Enjoy!**

"...so then he flew backwards and smacked against the stunt mat! I thought I was going to die laughing," Kanae said through a mouthful of yakisoba. "This is good. I missed Japanese food like mad."

"It was the same for me after coming back from Guam. I just wanted to eat _anything_ Japanese, even if I didn't ordinarily care for it!" Kyoko laughed. Her bento box was on the table in front of her; today, the theme was Pokemon.

"Guam… that was for your dangerous mission, right?" She slurped a noodle, only to have it come up too quickly and smack her nose. Fortunately for Kyoko, this occurrence distracted Kanae sufficiently so that the question was forgotten - even if Kyoko did freeze for a moment at the possible danger. But then, of course, she laughed at the expression on her best friend's face, earning her a glare before Kanae, too, laughed.

"I missed you, Moko," she giggled, propping her hand on her chin. "I was so lonely without you!"

Kanae flushed. "So you've said. Repeatedly."

"Didn't you miss me, too? Your very best friend? At least a little?"

Kanae took another bite of her yakisoba and shrugged, not meeting her friend's eyes. Kyoko wondered vaguely if puppy-dog eyes would work on her as well as they had worked on Ren at the Takarada mansion. Natsu, for the sheer sadistic pleasure of it, suggested that she try it. Setsu complained that since the puppy-dog eyes had been learned from nii-san, they should be used on nii-san alone. Bo made no comment, as he was asleep. In the background of the Kyoko meeting room, Annabel chatted with the Kuon boy about what a sap he'd be when he grew up, but how she'd love him anyway. The demons huddled around Mio, sniffling, while her ever-increasing number of angels giggled and swooned over the thought of Ren's heavenly smile.

"...Oi. You've got a weird look on your face."

Kyoko's gaze snapped from inward to outward. "S-Sorry, Moko! I was in a Kyoko meeting."

For a moment, Kanae looked as if she wanted to ask what her friend was talking about, but decided against it. With Kyoko, this type of thing was often too bizarre for simple, sane explanations. Instead, she changed the topic to something safer. "What's the news on 'Box R'? I meant to ask you earlier, but forgot."

"Oh!" Kyoko smiled. "We're almost done filming. The director's talking about making a second season if there's good feedback. I hope it goes well!"

"Will Natsu be in the second season?"

She nodded, finishing the last few bites of her bento. "The first season will end on something of a cliffhanger for that, 'cause Natsu disappears into the background and lets Amamiya-san's character take the heat. I feel kind of bad for her, but Natsu doesn't care in the slightest - dirty right hand and all that, you know."

"Mo, Natsu's harsh. Do me a favor and don't set her on me." Kanae finished her yakisoba and stood to dispose of her tray. Kyoko also stood after packing up her bento box.

"Don't worry! Almost all of my characters like you. Natsu has the idea that you'd be a good comrade." She grinned.

Kanae chose not to respond to that, and was saved the trouble of changing the topic by the appearance of a frilly comet. "Onee-san! I remembered something!"

"Hello, Maria-chan! What did you remember?" Kyoko beamed at her honorary younger sister, returning her hug (read: death grip).

"We never set the voodoo dolls on fire when you slept over! We got so caught up in playing Truth or Dare with everyone that we forgot!"

Kyoko gasped. "You're right! I completely forgot about it as soon as Annabel arrived. We could do it now - I have a little while before I need to get going for work. Where's the nearest fireplace?" Please note that she did not ask if there was a fireplace in LME; rather, she asked where the nearest one was, implying that she did not doubt the existence of more than one in this utterly strange building.

"Um… what?" Kanae inquired, raising one hand to shoulder height. "What are you talking about? Why are we being pyromaniacs?"

"Since Shotaro-baka was so mean to onee-san, we're going to set the voodoo dolls of him on fire, so pain and suffering will fall upon him!"

"You mean… like an effigy?" Kanae was getting a headache. Poor, poor Kanae. If only she'd known what was to come that evening.

"Yes! Exactly!" Maria beamed and grabbed both elder girls by the hand. "C'mon, there's a fireplace on the third floor that's not used much. We can burn them there!" Having said this, she dashed off, dragging them along. They managed to not crash into anyone, though there were many close calls. After a brief ride up the mercifully empty elevator, the trio crashed somewhat unceremoniously (and, in Kanae's case, unwillingly) into the fireplace-bearing room. There they met Sawara, who was toasting marshmallows on what appeared to be a garden rake. The four humans started at each other for a moment before Kyoko snapped back to her senses.

"Good afternoon, Sawara-san! Are you making bait for the rock lobsters?" She bowed.

He chuckled. "Good afternoon, and yes. How did you guess?"

"I combined a complete lack of logic with today's theme," she giggled. "When you're done, may we use that fireplace? We've got something that needs to be burned, but would release smoke unsuited for cooking."

Sawara paused for a moment, mildly terrified, then nodded. "Yes, of course." _It's better not to ask, especially when both she and Maria-chan are involved…._

"Thank you!" Maria squealed. She then turned to Kyoko; the pair began talking at length about the proper burning of effigies. Kanae sighed and attempted to block them out, but knew better than to try to escape.

"...Well, that's what I heard, at least. I don't think that it matters too much, though."

"Why not, onee-san?"

Kyoko pondered this for a moment. "I guess… I just don't think about him that much anymore. Maybe… I'm not as angry anymore?" She furrowed her brow, thinking.

"B-But onee-san! He did so many awful things to you!" Maria protested, distressed. How could her onee-san be so blase about something so awful?

"I know, but…." She blinked. Her angels squealed, egging her on to the long-awaited conclusion. "I guess I just don't _need_ to care anymore, so I… just… don't. I… um…."

"Good. So toss them into the fire and be done with them."

"Moko?" Kyoko looked up from her internal debate, questioning.

"You said you don't care anymore, right? Use this for closure. Get rid of any grip he might have left on you." She tilted her head back slightly, hand on her hip. "Plus, we can watch the bastard go up in flames."

Unnoticed, Sawara began making sense of the puzzle, though he was understandably confused - after all, he'd always believed that Kyoko loved Fuwa to the point of fanaticism. He would have thought further on this subject (and on what progress he'd just overheard), but his marshmallows were in danger of catching aflame. This impending fiasco (imagine the consequences of burnt lobster bait!) distracted him, and he thus lost track of the conversation. Fortunately, none of the marshmallows burned, so he was able to make the required number of s'mores without further difficulty. When he stood to leave, he did not notice the odd atmosphere in the room.

"Would you three like me to leave the rake and leftover marshmallows for you?"

"No thanks," Maria murmured, sucking on the first knuckle of her pointer finger in thought. "We're good."

He shrugged and left to deliver both the s'mores and the tidbit of news to Lory - who, of course, had decided that any and all information pertaining to Kyoko's background must be gathered for the sake of her own safety. The trio of girls stood in silence for a few moments before Kyoko knelt on the floor and tossed the first doll into the flames. Smoke billowed out of the fireplace and into Kyoko's face, causing her to cough; Maria screamed an exorcism spell. Kanae waved the smoke away from her face and observed, with some vindictive pleasure, as the flames engulfed the doll and slowly turned it to ash. Maria giggled and handed her honorary onee-san the next doll. This time, Kyoko stood back from the fireplace when she tossed the doll to its doom.

Around the fourth doll's burning, Maria said, "By the way, onee-san, did you ever take Ren-sama up on the offer he made you during Truth or Dare?"

Kyoko froze in the act of putting the doll in the fire; it tumbled from her fingers (seemingly in slow motion - honestly, it was as if they were in a manga or something) and into the fire, which hissed and spat its displeasure at the latest kindling. Kanae raised an eyebrow. "What promise?"

"Oh, the one about making her a princess for a day and being her prince if she wanted." Maria smiled.

"H-h-h-how did you know about that?" Kyoko squeaked as Kanae's palms was re-acquainted with her forehead.

"Sebastian," Maria stated, and with that simple statement, Kyoko understood, for Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore both hears and knows all. "Did you accept yet?"

"I… it… um…"

Kanae raised an eyebrow at her stuttering comrade-in-pink. "Go on. Tell her about your day yesterday."

"So you did accept it! How did it go?" Maria beamed at her elder sister, her excitement almost as tangible as Armstrong sparkles (though perhaps not quite so pink).

Kyoko tossed another Shotaro doll into the fire before answering. "It… it was wonderful. We went to the park and communed with the faeries!"

"Ren-sama can see faeries?" Maria demanded in a gasp, jolting to her feet. "Why was I not aware of this?"

"He can't, actually," Kyoko sighed as Kanae looked on in disbelief. "The faeries cast a spell on him so that he could see them for just that day, though! They stole his breath away."

_Sure, _they _were what stole his breath away._ Kanae rolled her eyes but continued to listen, so that she could gather a complete picture of the day - or as complete as Kyoko would tell Maria while within Lory's mechanical earshot.

"And then? And then?" Maria bounced on the balls of her feet. "What happened after that?"

"Um, we went for lunch at a family restaurant and had hamburg steak with eggs. They were delicious! And after that…." Kyoko's voice trailed off; her cheeks reddened.

"After that?" her younger sister prompted, after an awkward pause.

"We rode a carousel! It was a long while away, though, so we had to drive. And he had a Disney movie song playlist for us to listen to on the way! And get this - he's never seen _Tangled_!"

Maria was understandably shocked. "But even Moko-san and I have seen that - Grandfather had us watch it on one of his Disney-themed days! How did Ren-sama escape?"

"He was abroad then, remember?" Another Shotaro doll was sacrificed to Calcifer's distant, non-magical cousin.

"Oh, yeah…." The small girl nodded. "It sounds like you had fun! I wish I could've been there."

"I would've invited you to come, but it wasn't my place. Ren was in charge of everything that day. Maybe the two of us could go visit the faeries or the carousel on my next day off?"

Maria was so excited by this thought that she almost missed a very vital part of Kyoko's statements. Unfortunately for Kyoko, 'almost' does not mean that she did. "Onee-san…"

"Yes?" The second-to-last doll met a smokey, fiery death.

"You call Ren-sama by his given name now, without honorifics." She gigged, then wondered what her grandfather would do with this information. She glanced at her shell-watch. "Oh, I promised that I'd meet Ten-san for tea! I need to go! Bye-bye, onee-san, Moko-san!" With a wave, she skipped off to eat some crumpets. Kanae turned to a very red-faced Kyoko.

"Was that all?"

"...No."

Kanae sighed. "I'll leave you to your burnings. See you after work." Then she, too, took her leave. Kyoko wistfully watched the last Shotaro doll burn, mourning the wasted fabric and time, before getting to her feet. If she wanted to make it to TBM on time, she needed to leave now - her bike tires were flat, after all, so she'd be walking.

Meanwhile, Maria had just burst into Lory's office. "Grandfather! Grandfather! I have big news!"

"Hello, Maria-chan," Jelly greeted from the hermit crab next to Lory. Maria dropped a quick curtsy to Jelly, the scales on her rainbow fish dress sparkling.

The rock lobster looked up from his mossy seat at the clam-shell table. "What news, my favorite granddaughter?"

"First off, I'm your only granddaughter-"

"-which is why you're my favorite-"

"-and second off, I have news on the Ren-sama and Kyoko-onee-san front."

"You what?" Jelly blinked.

"Do tell! Come-come, sit!" Lory gestured to an empty seahorse chair. "What news have you of the TsuGami?"

"The what?" Maria crinkled her nose.

"The TsuGami. Tsuruga-Mogami. We couldn't think of a proper mash of their given names, so we combined their surnames," Jelly explained. "But nevermind that. Tell us!"

Sebastian handed Maria a crumpet, as he is Sebastian and can sense when such foods are needed for tales. Maria nodded her thanks; he melted back into the shadows. "I found out some of what they did yesterday when Ren-sama fulfilled the offer he made her during Truth or Dare."

Lory held up a hand. "Wait. How do you know what offer he made?"

"I asked Sebastian. He heard it."

Lory snapped his fingers. "Sebby."

Sebastian appeared at his side, ever-dutiful to the point of not objecting to ridiculous nicknames. "Yes, my lord lobster?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't ask, sir."

Lory slapped his forehead with his rock lobster claw. "Of course! Now, everyone, kindly tell me what information you have gathered. Sebastian, what was this offer of which my lovely little rainbow fish speaks?"

Sebastian nodded and drew up a water-screen to replay his thoughts and observances.

_He shifted tentatively closer to her, placing one hand on the side of her away from him so that he engulfed her without trapping her. He swallowed and leaned close to her, eyes shutting when his lips nearly brushed against her ear. He murmured to her, softly, so that none but she could hear what he said._

_"Mogami-san, you are very familiar with princesses, yes?"_

_Lory and Maria watched, intrigued. Kyoko – who had fully returned from Annabel while Ren was in his stupor – sat, slightly stiff, in Ren's almost-embrace. While at first downcast from something she refused to name, her eyes were soon lit with curiosity at his murmur._

_"Of course, what of them?"_

_Ren murmured softly once more, his lips now brushing against her earlobe, "If you ever want someone to treat you like one, let me know, and I will. I could even be your prince, if you want me to."_

_Kyoko's face grew pink – though from his words or his touch, the observers could not be certain (except for Sebastian, of course, who is Sebastian and therefore hears all). But even they could not miss the look of absolute longing that she gave him as he drew away, one that nearly snapped his control and completely melted Lory's heart – a look of longing tinged with something she refused to name, a dark something broken only by the purest light… a something that he could not yet give her, and a something that she was not yet ready to receive._

Lory nodded approvingly; no one questioned the water-thought-screen, as far stranger things have been seen in the presence of a Takarada. Maria took another bite of her scone before standing up to give her report. "Kyoko-onee-san said that they communed with the faeries, ate hamburg steak - her favorite meal - and then rode a carousel. Also, she's now calling him 'Ren' now."

Natsuko slithered out of a nearby seashell as Lory nodded. "I heard that last bit from Yukihito-kun, so thank you for confirming it. He also told me - and the ever-lovely Ten confirmed - that both parties involved consider yesterday an actual date. This is immense progress. Ten, would you re-cap for Maria what you told me?"

"Of course, darling." Jelly smiled. "Ren-chan took Kyoko-chan to be dressed up as a princess and himself as a prince yesterday. He also had a tiara specially made for her and crowned her the princess of his heart - in Latin, of course, so she has no clue what he said."

Maria clapped her hands to her mouth to suppress a squeal. "Why didn't onee-san tell _me_ that?"

"She was probably trying to spare your feelings," Lory reminded her gently.

Maria shrugged this off; she would not let herself be conquered by a small heartbreak. "If onee-san can burn the Shotaro-baka dolls, I can help with this."

"The what?"

"Shotaro-baka dolls. They're wonderfully powerful voodoo dolls that onee-san made of that Fuwa Sho person when she was really really mad at him. She decided that she didn't need them anymore, so she burned them." She took another bite of her crumpet; Jelly took a sip of tea. "This is yummy."

"Why did she not need them?" Lory inquired, brow furrowed. He'd heard the story at his mansion, so why…? Had she forgiven him?

Maria shrugged. "She just said that she didn't care anymore, and Moko-san said to burn them as a closure thingy."

Lory nodded again; Natsuko hissed her approval, then motioned for Sebastian to bring the nearest phone. He handed her the conch shell, which she in turn passed to Lory with her tail. He caught her meaning and glanced at the clock. "What time does Ren get off his current job, does anyone know?"

Maria, Jelly, and Natsuko shook their heads. Sebastian nodded and informed Lory, as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore remembers trivial details about the subjects of Lory's experiments. "Thank you."

"Of course, sir."

"May I call Ren-sama?" Maria inquired, grinning. "He won't be as on his guard if I ask him to come up."

Lory chucked, dialed, and handed his granddaughter the phone. "You, my dear, are wonderfully devious."

She giggled while the phone rang. "I come by it honestly."

Jelly leaned against Lory's arm. "You two are such an adorable pair."

He smiled at her. "So I've heard. She is one of my favorite ladies, after all."

"And might I be included in that category?"

"No." (She pouted.) "You, my dearest Ten, are one of my favorite women." She smiled. Natsuko gave a snakey equivalent.

The phone rang twice before it was answered. "Hello?"

Maria quickly re-evaluated her plan of attack. "Oh, hello, Yashiro-san. May I speak to Ren-sama, please?"

Yashiro, in studio E-5, chuckled. "He'll be done here in a few minutes, Maria-chan. What do you need?"

"I wanted to talk to Ren-sama about yesterday. I heard a little bit from onee-san, but we were too busy burning the Shotaro-baka dolls to talk much, and then it was time for tea. So I… um… wanted to know if some of the stuff is true. Would you ask him to come up to Grandfather's office when he's done with work?"

"Sure thing, Maria-chan. I'm sure he'd be glad to talk to you."

"Alright, thank you!" She grinned and gave her spectators a thumbs-up. "Good-bye!" Much semi-maniacal laughter resulted, then many scones were eaten and much tea was drunk (and rest assured, drunk tea is an amusing sight to behold).

At the end of the scene, Ren walked over to Yashiro. "Any changes in the schedule?"

"We have a brief meeting with Maria-chan before your next job." He handed Ren a water bottle. "Good job, by the way."

"Thanks." He took the offered drink, a bit confused. "A meeting with Maria-chan?"

"She said that she'd heard something about yesterday from Kyoko-chan and wanted to know if it was true. Apparently they'd been too busy burning dolls of a certain 'Shotaro-baka' to talk in depth about it." He paused for a moment, observing his charge. "Ren."

The actor snapped out of wonderful fantasies about the said idiot being burned alive. "Yes?"

"Watch your face and go get changed so we have enough time for the meeting." Twisted, sick smiles were not part of the Tsuruga Ren brand.

Ren sighed and did as he was bid. A thought made itself known in his mind as he disrobed. _Maria-chan wants to talk to me about what happened with Kyoko yesterday. _He was aware that the young girl felt some puppy love towards him and perhaps more familial love towards Kyoko; would news of their date be distressing to her? How should he handle this? Moreover, how much could he tell her without overstepping any of Kyoko's boundaries?

"Ready?" Yashiro called, snapping the lock on his briefcase shut.

Ren nodded and fell into stride with his manager. "Ready."

**Thus endeth this chapter. ^^ I know that there's not a lot of fluff here, but rest assured that more shall come. Lots and lots more.**

**Also, this fic is going to be even longer than I'd planned. I have 613 words of **_**notes**_ **for stuff to come from when sempai and I brainstormed - and that's not counting the fic-spaz my other sempai helped me with over the internet. So… yes. Many more chapters to come at an excruciatingly slow pace, as school has started up again. Expect a lot of radio silence, and please be patient with me! If you stay tuned, there will be much fluff to come.**

**Find the Black Butler and Fullmetal Alchemist references for a little prize~! Please review!**


	4. How Can She Know?

**Hello, my darling readers (if you still exist and have not given up this story as a lost cause by now)! I have returned after a long absence due to school, minor wrist injury, and asthma. My apologies for the late update and minor cliffhanger. I'll try to leave you with a better one this time! *laughs***

**I still don't own Skip Beat, but I hope you enjoy this fic anyway~!**

Kyoko hurried down a hallway at TBM; she'd managed to arrive slightly early, but she wanted to make sure that she had enough time to do her stretches. The last time she'd done Bo without stretching beforehand, she'd pulled a hamstring. As that incident had been both unpleasant and inconvenient, she had since made her pre-Bo stretch a priority. Her co-workers would even join her on occasion, depending on how rigorous the show was to be that day.

"Oh, Kyoko-chan! Good pre-evening!"

"Ishibashi-onii-sans! Hello!" She stood and bowed to her co-workers. "I see that the president got to you, too."

Shinichi chuckled. "Yeah, he's practically enforcing the word, he likes it so much."

"He's such a lunatic, but we all love 'im anyway, right?" Yuusei grinned, stretching from side to side. "Ready to don the chicken suit of doom, Kyoko-chan?"

"Bo's not full of doom!" Kyoko protested, protecting her beloved chicken character as she continued her stretches. "I love playing Bo!"

"Glad to hear it," Hikaru piped up, copying her movements. "The show wouldn't be as good without you as Bo."

Instead of immediately launching into a violent denial of this compliment, Kyoko merely stilled for a moment, thoughts and memories mixing in her mind. After a few moments of awkward silence, she continued her stretches. "Thank you, Hikaru-onii-san. You guys make it really easy for Bo to go insane."

Shinichi and Yuusei gaped at each other. Kyoko had accepted a compliment - she'd deflected some of the credit, yes, but she'd accepted it nonetheless. This was a vast improvement from how she'd been just a few days ago. Hikaru grinned before remembering how his favorite chicken's day had gone the last time he'd seen her. "Are you feeling better, then?"

Her head snapped up, her cheeks coloring. "Yes! Much, much better, thank you!"

He observed her for a moment, dazed, and then beamed. "Glad to hear it!"

"Oh, yeah," Shinichi commented as they finished their stretches. "We've got something for you after we finish recording the show, so don't leave right away, okay?"

Kyoko, understandably confused and still going over memories in her mind, simply nodded before donning her costume. They would have a slight wait before the show began.

Meanwhile, Ren was slinking into Lory's office, still trying to figure out how best to reply to Maria's (and Lory's) upcoming questions. On one hand, if he were to tell the complete truth, then Kyoko would not get the wrong idea if she somehow heard what he had said. On the other hand, if he _didn't_ tell the complete truth, then Maria's young heart would be spared much pain and Lory would have less information to use as blackmail. Unfortunately for him, a small, frilly cannonball pelted into his arms before he had a chance to decide. He chuckled despite his worry and lifted her.

"Ren-sama, did you really take onee-san to see faeries and ride the carousel without me?" She attempted to pout, but her fiendish grin ruined the effect.

He tilted his head to one side, smiling. "Now where did you hear that?"

"Onee-san mentioned it while we were burning the dolls of that idiot." She copied his head movement. "I would've invited you to join us, but you weren't anywhere nearby. He burned really nicely, though."

"That's too bad. I'd have liked to join." Lory chuckled at these words and exchanged a knowing look with Jelly. The sound made Maria realize how effectively she was being distracted; she pointed an accusing finger at Ren.

"Don't change the subject, Ren-sama! I wanna hear about your date with onee-san!"

"My… date?" Had Kyoko actually called it that to Maria?

"It was kind of obvious by the way she was blushing and stuttering and trying not to turn into a pile of happy, melty cheese." The little girl nodded. "Plus, since she's calling you 'Ren' now, I figured that you two must have gone on an official date, onee-san being so proper and all."

"She did? In… in front of you?" Was that really alright?

Yashiro, who had trailed into the office after Ren, accepted a cup of tea from Sebastian, who realized exactly how tired the overworked manager was, as Sebastian is Sebastian and therefore notices minute details. Lory then signaled for Sebastian to join them in drinking tea and watching Ren be interrogated by Maria. The aide did so, his lobster claws clicking against his shell-chair.

"Well, yeah. Why not?" Maria paused; Ren suppressed a shudder as Natsuko wrapped her way around his legs and slithered upward. She then held a light bulb above Maria's head. Bizarrely, this worked, and Ren's reasoning became clear to the girl. "Ohhh. Right. Sorry, Ren-sama, but I've decided that I'm over you, 'cause onee-san needs you more than I do. Besides, I know what I wanna be when I grow up!"

"And that would be?" Lory inquired while Ren attempted to wrap his head around the idea of Kyoko needing him, instead of vice versa.

Maria thumped her fist against her chest proudly and declared, "I'm going to be _fire_! It's a strong, independent element that don't _need_ no man!"

To everyone's credit, they managed to keep straight faces for all of eight seconds before dissolving into their various forms of laughter (except for Sebastian, as he is Sebastian and therefore can remain expressionless even in the face of the most absurd statements). Ren had the presence of mind to set Maria on the nearest seahorse chair before his amusement made itself known. Yashiro chuckled while handing a pile of napkins to Jelly, whose tea had come out of her nose at that statement. Natsuko was a writhing pile of serpentine mirth upon the floor. Finally, Lory recovered enough to choke out some words.

"If that is what you wish, my darling girl," he managed between guffaws, "then I shall find the finest fire-trainers and costumes available for you."

She grinned, despite the slight ache in her heart. _How's my acting, Ren-sama? Did you believe me? _Lory held his arms open for a hug; she launched herself into them. _I might not fool Grandfather - he always knows about love - but I can fool you and onee-san. Besides, it's only fooling for as long as it's true. I'll be burning bright someday. _She switched over to Jelly's lap, a portion of her mind - the part not fighting off her heartbreak - wondering when Grandfather was going to get hitched to the young-looking woman. _I'll be alright. This way I won't lose anyone._

Yashiro checked his watch before getting to his feet. "Sorry to laugh and leave, but we should get going if we want to make the next job."

Lory placed a hand on Ren's shoulder as the actor began to stand, halting his movements. "Yes, sir?"

Any earlier levity was gone from the president's face. When he spoke, his voice was low. "Ren… what exactly did you do to her, to make this much progress after nothing for so long?"

He chuckled. "I simply made her an offer she can't refuse, not now nor then nor ever."

"An offer she can't refuse? What are you, a mafia don?"

He smiled, bowed, and turned to leave, but did not elaborate further. Lory did not need to know any more than he did unless Kyoko was willing to share the news - from what he'd heard, even Maria had an incomplete picture. The day was sacred to him, and would only be shared with the rest of the world if she was ready for others to know. If and only if… the 'if' of them ever became 'when.'

Lory attempted to exchange a knowing look with Jelly, but was distracted. Jelly and Maria were chatting happily about carousels and the responsibilities of being fire - and were debating the compatibility of the two (faeries were not discussed, as faeries are obviously compatible with both). His gaze softened; he signaled for Natsuko to take a picture with her miniature, tongue-operated camera. He continued to observe the two until he realized that he (and the authoress) had forgotten to tease Ren mercilessly about his love life. Thus his moan of utter despair interrupted that happy scene, and Sebastian was required to bustle about and help his boss make various preparations for future teasing.

Meanwhile, Bo was in a bit of a pinch - literally. Kyoko couldn't feel Shinichi's pinch through the Bo suit, of course, but Bo certainly could and thus made a rather exaggerated fuss over it. This fuss, of course, resulted in much dramatic flapping, plonka-ing, and squawking. The audience roared their approval; this approval took the form of laughter when Bo parried the offending bobby pin with an oversized, inflatable pool toy shaped like a banana. Hikaru and Yuusei were left to squabble over an enormous paper boat. The guest, for his part, was left to imitate a fish as best he could. Had she been asked what game they were playing, Kyoko would not have been able to answer; Bo had started some chaos, leaving her consciousness to trail along after him.

The chicken in question had decided that doing an impression of a snake waving would be the best way to win this game (appropriately titled Object: Random). Bo appeared to transform in substance, now made of wiggling, curvy rubber instead of cloth and false feathers. The guest began laughing, which of course set everyone else off again. Bo bopped each Ishibashi on the head with the banana before striking a victorious pose. He then knelt before the guest and yielded his pool toy much in the way a knight might have yielded a sword to his king. The guest did his absolute best (and failed miserably) to keep a straight face while taking the pool toy from Bo. He then tapped each of Bo's shoulders with the toy, knighting him. Bo responded by letting out a rather loud cock-a-doodle-doo, calling that segment of the show to an end.

"Have you enjoyed your time on our show today?" Hikaru inquired of the guest, wiping sweat off of his brow.

The guest, panting slightly, nodded. "It's been a wild ride. To be honest, I hadn't expected a guest appearance to be so… strenuous. I fear that I might be out of shape!"

"Nah, you're fine. No one can keep up with our resident rooster," Shinichi laughed, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder to where Bo was entering with tea for everyone. Bo had the presence of mind to set the tea down before throwing his wings up into the air in a mockery of shyness.

Yuusei gave Bo a light slap on the tail feathers, eliciting an undignified squawk from the aforementioned bird. "No one like 'im."

The guest chuckled. "Then I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad, after all - and thank you for having me."

"Of course! It was our pleasure." Hikaru grinned before turning to the audience. "That's it for tonight, folks - thanks for watching! Tune in next week for a surprise guest star!"

"CUT!"

The four men and one rooster hurried offstage; Kyoko bowed a farewell to the guest before turning down the hallway to take the costume to its cleaning station. She did not question why she kept the suit on; Natsu knew, of course, but decided not to tell - after all, the knowledge behind the gut instinct would cause Kyoko to go over the deep end. Watching that happen in real time would be much more interesting than a minor breakdown in the Kyoko meeting room… and Natsu lived for pleasure.

Ren, as Natsu would have predicted if asked, was pacing back and forth in the hallway. Of course, 'pacing' was a bit understated; the man was a sap in love - and a very happy sap at that - and was thus bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as he paced. Though he attempted to keep a straight face, his grin was very persistent; it insisted on creeping across his face every few seconds. He would then give his head an odd little jerk in an attempt to tame his expression, but to little avail. Ah, Ren… how sappy thou art.

He knew that he probably shouldn't even be here; he had one more job after this, some fifteen minutes away. He really shouldn't be risking being late for the second time that day. It was too much to risk someone overhearing him just to give a report - a good report, granted - to a man in a chicken suit whose name he didn't even know… but he had to tell _someone_ about his date with his princess, and the mysterious man in the chicken suit seemed the least likely to tease him. Besides, Bo was the one who'd originally helped him realize that he was in love with Kyoko, so it was only fair that he would be told, right?

_Plonka. Plonka. Plonka._

Ren turned, grinning once more, to face his romantic mentor. "Hello, again."

Kyoko blinked before shifting into the Ren's-Bo persona. "Yo. What's up? Got another problem for me to solve?" _I wonder what happened? He seemed fine yesterday…._

Ren's grin widened as the pair sat down. "No, actually. I've got good news for you this time."

Bo threw his wings up into the air in an over-exaggerated gesture of avian surprise. "Good news? Coming from someone as clueless as yourself? Do I need to prepare my anti-zombie plan?"

"Your what?" Ren inquired, thrown for a loop - a metaphorical one, of course, as Bo was not nearly strong enough to pick Ren up, much less throw him.

"My anti-zombie plan. The apocalypse is obviously imminent if you have good news for me - after all, you usually only come to me for romantic advice." Bo snorted. "And if _you've_ got good news on _that_ front, well…! The only reasonable explanation I could come up with is the apocalypse." Inside the Kyoko meeting room (as Bo was driving the body right now), Kyoko bit her mental lip, wondering what could have happened. _Was yesterday just a test drive? Is he going to do something similar for his high school girl? _

Ren surprised Bo; he did not unleash a gentlemanlysmile upon realizing he was being teased. Instead, he chuckled and shook his head. "No apocalypses that I know of. I just wanted to thank you for all the advice you've given me."

"Ah, so you've finally confessed your love to your high school girl! Congratulations!" _...I thought I'd gotten past being jealous._

"Um…" He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly awkward. "About that…."

"You didn't confess, did you?"

"I did!"

"So the problem is...?"

"I may have done it in the wrong language."

_...What?_ "So you confessed in English or something?"

"Latin, actually."

"...You do realize that very few Japanese people speak Latin, right?"

"Yes."

"Is this the extent of the good news? You confessed in a language your girl doesn't speak?" _Really, Ren? Really?_

"No. I'm not _that_ hopeless." He crossed his arms; another grin crept across his face. "We spent the day together. I took her out and spoiled her like mad."

"Congratulations. You're a sugar daddy." Bo waved his wing in a circle, inviting Ren to continue speaking.

"She acknowledged it as a date," Ren announced, pride shining from his eyes. He ignored Bo's comment just as much as the authoress attempted to ignore the image of a certain homunculus crawling out of Ren's eyes.

"Yay, she said it was a date. Yippee. Happy day, hop about, squeal with glee." Bo made an impression of rolling his eyes. "And this is a big idea... why?"

"Because I also got her to finally call me by my given name, after a year of knowing her, and gaining permission to call her by her first name." Upon seeing Bo's body language-expression, he added, "She's a very proper, traditional young woman!"

A thought surfaced in her mind, but was ignored despite the best efforts of her angels. "Huh. You're finally calling her a 'woman.' Before now, you always said 'girl.' Coming to terms with reality, are we?"

Ren gave a defeated chuckled. "It's not like I really had a choice."

In the Kyoko meeting room, Setsu sneezed; Bo ignored her and asked, "Why? Did she shove her boobs in your face or something?"

This artless comment elicited a sputter from Ren and an internal protest from the boss Kyoko. "I just told you that she's a _proper, traditional_ young woman! She wouldn't do… something like that!"

Bo chuckled. "Mind your nose, lover boy. Wouldn't do to get a nosebleed now, would it?"

Ren pinched the bridge of his nose. Why had he thought that telling Bo about his date would be a good idea?

"Anyway, tell me about your date. What progress did you make, other than the name thing and her saying that yeah, it was a date?" Bo leaned forward and propped his head up on his wings. "You were all happy - I'll listen. Go on."

"Physical contact improved." Upon seeing Bo's smirk (and wondering how a chicken suit could smirk - honestly, sometimes the world acted like he was in a manga), he amended, "To a point. She no longer has a full-blown panic attack when I hug her."

In the Kyoko meeting room, Annabel giggled and commented that this gal sounded awfully familiar - but she was ignored. Bo nodded. "Yes, non-panicking touches are always good. Anything else?"

Another grin drifted across Ren's face. "She was so… _happy_. I don't remember the last time I saw her smile so much… probably not since we were kids."

"As kids?" The chicken tilted his head.

He nodded, but did not elaborate, still immersed in the memories of the previous day. "She really deserves so much more happiness than she gets, so much more _love_ than she gets…. I'm just glad that, at least for one day, I could give her that much. It's… she trusted me enough to let me do even that much for her, to spoil her a little. I'm hopeless, I know… but she's worth it." He chuckled again and leaned his head back against the wall. "She's always been worth it."

Bo clapped. "An inspiring speech on love. Bravo. She's a lucky girl. Anything else?"

The actor tilted his head and looked at Bo out of the corner of his eyes. "You really are harsh, you know that? I come to you to thank you and tell you some good news, and you reward me with nothing but sarcasm."

"My apologies, my liege," Bo gasped, stood, and bowed deeply. "Bravo, O great one! Thou hast made improvement with thine fair lady. I can only hope to one day do as well as thee in the jousting-court of love."

"Your mockery is much appreciated."

"Anytime." Bo plopped down next to Ren once more. "Seriously, though, why me? I know I've given you some advice in the past, but… it's not like we meet outside of random help." He tilted his head to one side. "Can't you tell your family about her? Do your parents not approve of her or something?"

This time, Ren's laughter was harsh and forced. "No, Dad loves her… he's kind of adopted her as his second 'son', crazy as it sounds…."

"So the problem is what?"

"I...I just don't think they'd approve of me as I am now. I've changed a lot since I last saw them." His shoulders slumped.

"Well, why don't you just ask them? Your Dad seems like a good guy - he'd probably listen if you had a nice man-to-man chat about your woman."

"They live a long while away. I'd hate to have any of us travel so long for just a short chat." _Even if they'd be perfectly willing… I can't quite face them yet. I'm not ready._

"Well, I'm not one to pry into family matters too much, but I think you'd be fine." Bo shrugged. Upon seeing Ren's look of incredulity, he continued, "Seriously, just call them. They'll be happy. Go. Shoo. Big bad actor such as yourself can handle a phone call." Bo flapped his wings in a shooing motion, hitting Ren in the face with feathers.

Pushing away the offending false fluff particles, Ren protested, "But-"

"You wanted to tell someone about your woman, right? There. You have something to talk about with them." Bo huffed, glancing at a nearby clock. Kyoko noted that Moko would arrive to get her soon. "Now scram. You've got another job or something, right? You don't want to be late. Get outta my sight."

Ren, too, glanced at the clock and realized that Bo's words were true. "I- alright. Thanks for all your advice, as always. It really helped me show her a good time yesterday."

Something pinged in the Kyoko meeting room, but Bo merely waved a lofty wing at Ren's face as the pair stood. "S'alright, muchacho. Auf wiedersehen, farewell, all that jazz." He watched as Ren gave a sigh smiled, and then turned to walk down the hall. After a few steps, he paused. "What?"

"I doubt you'll ever need it, but… if there's anything I can ever do for you, let me know. I'm more than willing to help."

"Yeah, yeah." Bo laughed. "Skedaddle, now. We've both got places to be."

Ren, in a moment of levity, saluted. Then he turned around and walked out of sight. Bo melted away as Kyoko watched him go. _You've done too much for me already. Good luck with your…._

Annabel piped up in the meeting room, interrupting Kyoko's mental sap. "Ya _do_ realize that cowboy said that he showed his gal a good time _yesterday_, right?"

Kyoko blinked. Footsteps sounded around the corner.

_...Huh?_

**That's it for this time, my lovelies! Thanks for taking the time to drop by and read this and review (hint, hint). I hope that this cliffhanger is better (read: more deliciously cruel) than the last one. A thank-you to my sempai for keeping me motivated and finding random words/facts for me! :D**

**Also, has anyone seen the animated movie **_**Strange Magic**_**? It has a lot a parallels to **_**Skip**__**Beat**_**, which made me love it. **

**Anyway, please drop a review… as ever, there's a little prize involved if you find the reference. ;) 'Til next time, darlings, which I hope will be much sooner! **


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